Green Daily

Give your kids a green-inspired education at the Brooklyn Children's Museum!

Next to getting stuck in bumper to bumper traffic -- which is definitely one of the most rage-provoking ways to waste gas and spew CO2 -- the second most annoying way to burn up all of your fuel is to get lost. Not only do you feel like an idiot for not consulting a map before you set out, but you have to watch that needle on your gas gauge count down towards 'E.' Now, imagine the pressure you'd feel if you were lost for 5 hours and you were driving a bus load of school children.

That's right, after picking up about a dozen first graders and kindergartners from the Achievement First Brownsville Charter School, a Brooklyn bus driver 'got lost' and circled the borough for a grand total of 5 hours. When police finally apprehended the wayward driver, they arrested him. Not for wasting tons of diesel fuel -- though that might please some of us -- but for just being dangerously weird.

I guess we may never know what he was thinking, or why he refused to stop and get directions, but I have a well thought-out theory: he's one of these energy-waster activists, here to destroy the planet.

While we often hear a lot of talk about public transportation, replacing cars with bikes, getting rid of surface traffic, and so on, how many of us have ever actually imagined what it would be like to live in a world where cars, trucks, and bicycles co-existed safely and peacefully? More to the point, how could we design streets, intersections, pathways and neighborhoods that would make this sort of coexistence possible?

Last week, Transportation Alternatives, a New York-based advocacy group for non-automotive transportation, opened that very question up to public debate. They announced that they are holding a competition for the best post-automotive street design. The contest, "Designing the 21st Century Street," asks competitors to redesign the intersection of Fourth Avenue and Ninth Street in Brooklyn. This intersection is a dangerous, neighborhood-disrupting mess, and represents exactly the sort of challenge that Transportation Alternatives hopes can be overcome through intelligent planning and a more effective use of resources.

The competition is open to any and all interested parties, and the top prize is $6,000. Participants must enter by July 18, and all submissions must by received by August 18. If you have a plan for the future, this might be the perfect way to get it out there!

Yeah, New York is cool and everything -- amazing arts and culture, metropolitan atmosphere, naked cowboys in Times Square -- but it always felt like the city was missing something...until now! Artist Olafur Eliasson, has created an enormous new public art installation that has, essentially, added four new waterfalls to the urban landscape.

Picture it: You're running late to work, but Fluffy's got to go. You take him out for a quick bathroom break, and instead of plastic-bagging the evidence, you look around and then take off, leaving the offending waste behind.

If you're in Brooklyn, this ain't gonna fly: the Sanitation Department's Canine Task Force (yes, one exists) is cracking down on lazy dog owners by enforcing the "pooper scooper" law. This is partly a result from the 3,000 complaints the city received last year about dog waste.

And the fine might go up, too: now $100, it could be $250 if the Governor signs a new bill to increase it.

Why does this all matter? Besides being really sucky to step in, unscooped poop washes into our water system, making it bacteria central.

So whether you live in Brooklyn or not, remember to scoop it - preferably into an eco-friendly bag, and after you've frozen it.

I don't know about you, but when I walk into a bakery, I'm not usually asking myself what kind of impact my cake has had on the environment. But that doesn't mean I wasn't excited to find out today that there's a carbon neutral cupcake shop in Brooklyn. I mean, it's nowhere near the part of Brooklyn that I live in, but if I'm ever in the neighborhood, I'm totally checking out Little Cupcake Bakeshop.

The store purchases electricty from wind power, uses energy efficient lighting, and "toxic free chemicals in paints, oils, cleaners, and floor treatments." The company also donates money to The Carbon Fund to offset the carbon that the shop does use.

The Bakeshop also runs the Little Cupcake Initiative, which supports environmental education. And best of all, the cupcakes are just $1.75 a piece, which is a bargain by New York standards.

[via NewYorkology]

Ever think about building a farm in your back yard? No, not a garden. An actual, honest to goodness farm where you could grow all the produce and raise all the animals you'd need to survive. Well, that's what Manny Howard, a Brooklyn resident tried to do in his 20 foot by 40 foot backyard. He's written a remarkable account of his experiences for New York Magazine.

The goal was to see if he could spend the entire month of August eating food he had grown on his farm. Locally grown produce is great for the environment. Not only do you know that what you're getting is fresh and hasn't been treated with preservatives to survive a long truck ride, but there's no long truck ride at all. That means you get less pollution and a healthier body. A whole locavore movement has been started by people trying to eat food grown within 100 miles of their homes. Howard wanted to take things a few steps further.

There was just one problem. Howard's home locavore farm was struck by the first tornado to hit Brooklyn in about a hundred years. He really should have seen it coming. Howard was able to pick up the pieces and eat food from the farm for three weeks in August. But some of his crops didn't survive. We won't spoil the rest, because you really should check out the full article. It makes for fascinating reading.